INTERCHURCH  WORLD  MOVEMENT  OF  NORTH  AMERICA 


WORLD  SURVEY 
CONFERENCE 

ATLANTIC  CITY 
JANUARY  7  to  10,  1920 

PRELIMINARY 

Statement  and  Budget  for  American 
Ministerial  Support  and  Relief 


PREPARED  BY 

SURVEY  DEPARTMENT 

AMERICAN  MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF  DIVISION 


THIS  Survey  statement 
should  be  read  in  the  light 
of  the  fact  that  it  is  preliminary 
only,  and  will  be  revised  and 
enlarged  as  a  result  of  the  dis¬ 
cussions  and  recommendations 
of  the  World  Survey  Conference. 

The  entire  Survey  as  revised 
will  early  be  brought  together  in 
two  volumes,  American  and 
Foreign,  to  form  the  basis  of  the 
financial  campaign  to  follow. 

The  “Statistical  Mirror”  will 
make  a  third  volume  dealing  with 
general  church,  missionary  and 
stewardship  data. 


INTERCHURCH  WORLD  MOVEMENT  OF  NORTH  AMERICA 


WORLD  SURVEY 
CONFERENCE 


ATLANTIC  CITY 
JANUARY  7  to  10,  1920 


PRELIMINARY 

Statement  and  Budget  for  American 
Ministerial  Support  and  Relief 


PREPARED  BY 

SURVEY  DEPARTMENT 

AMERICAN  MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF  DIVISION 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT 

AND  RELIEF 

There  is  something  wrong  when  a  business  man  is  content  with  having  a 
minister  who  receives  a  smaller  salary  than  one  of  his  subordinate  clerks. 

MORE  than  half  of  the  clergy  in  America  receive  salaries  less  than  the 
minimum  subsistence  of  the  ordinary  workingman’s  family.  The  United 
States  income  tax  returns  list  only  1,671  ministers  as  having  an  income, 
including  salary,  of  $3,000  a  year.  This  is  less  than  one  per  cent,  of  the  entire  number. 

The  minister  has  one  chance  in  a  hundred  of  receiving  a  $3,000  salary;  the  lawyer  has 
one  in  five;  the  doctor  one  in  seven,  and  the  manufacturer  one  in  ten.  Not  four 
ministers  in  a  thousand  receive  a  $5,000  salary. 

The  middle  line  of  salaries  varies  somewhat  in  different  sections  and  churches,  but  in 
no  instance  does  the  majority  of  the  ministers  receive  in  excess  of  $1,000. 

The  cost  of  living  has  increased  more  than  eighty  per  cent.  It  has  been  accompanied 
by  a  like  increase  of  wages,  and  workingmen  have  been  able  to  maintain  or  even  to 
improve  their  standard  of  living.  But  the  increase  of  ministerial  salaries  in  twenty 
years  has  not  been  twenty  per  cent.  That  the  minister  makes  ends  meet  financially 
stamps  him  as  the  master  business  man  of  his  time. 

Inadequate  salaries  make  widening  gaps  in  the  ministerial  ranks  by  compelling 
efficient  men  to  seek  other  means  of  supporting  their  families  and  by  preventing  the 
recruiting  of  the  ablest  and  best  young  men. 


PROFITEERING  IN  SOULS 

10W  salaries  are  not  due  to  the  poverty  of 
j  the  laymen,  who  profit  by  the  sacrifices 
and  vows  of  the  ministers  and  do  not  pay  the 
cost  value  of  their  services.  Most  ministers 
pay  more  to  preach  the  gospel  than  the  laymen 
pay  to  hear  it. 

The  per  capita  payment  of  the  average  layman 
is  decreasing.  He  pays  no  more  than  his  father 
or  his  grandfather  did  and  less  than  he  himself 
paid  a  decade  ago. 

The  high-salaried,  large  and  rich  churches  pay 


less  per  member  than  does  the  church  at  large. 
“We  have  more  members  and  need  not  pay  so 
much”  seems  to  be  the  rule. 

Laymen  do  not  pay  even  a  tithe  of  a  tithe — one 
per  cent. — of  their  income  to  maintain  the 
church  and  its  minister.  While  church  mem¬ 
bership  is  increasing  more  rapidly  than  popula- 
lation,  the  financial  barometer  points  down¬ 
ward. 

The  minister  is  exploited  for  every  good  cause, 
while  the  plight  of  his  family  is  little  less  than 
tragic.  This  is  unfair  and  cruel,  and  makes  it 


4 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


impossible  for  him  or  his  family  to  benefit  by 
the  schools,  hospitals  and  other  products  of  his 
labor,  except  on  the  basis  of  charity. 

When  the  minister,  through  old  age  or  disabil¬ 
ity,  ceases  to  be  the  “Indispensable  Man”  he  at 
once  becomes  the  retired  minister,  or,  “The 
Forgotten  Man.” 

PENSIONS  OR  POVERTY 

UNTIL  recently  provision  for  the  care  of 
retired  ministers  was  based  on  charitable 
grounds  and  the  plea  was,  “Pity  the  poor  old 
minister.”  As  a  result,  pitiable  grants  were 
doled  out  on  proof  of  poverty. 

An  improved  status,  from  that  of  charitable 
aid  to  one  of  definite  support,  has  been  adopted 
by  several  denominations  in  recognition  of  an 
inherent  claim  to  a  pension  determined  by 
years  of  service.  The  appeal  for  benevolent 
gifts  for  clerical  destitution  has  given  place  to 
plans  for  the  prompt  payment  of  just  and 
well-earned  claims. 

It  is  as  reasonable  to  expect  an  aged  or  disabled 
carpenter  or  farmer  to  earn  a  living  by  preach¬ 
ing  as  to  expect  a  disabled  or  retired  minister 
to  earn  a  livelihood  in  some  secular  pursuit. 

In  a  day  when  nations,  states,  cities,  schools, 
corporations  and  manufacturing  establishments 
are  providing  for  the  old  age  of  faithful  em¬ 
ployes  as  a  matter  of  economic  justice  it  seems 
strange  that  the  last  among  the  faithful  ser¬ 
vants  to  be  thus  rewarded  should  be  the  retired 
clergyman. 

After  teaching  the  principles  of  fairness  which 
have  created  pension  plans  in  a  thousand  in¬ 
dustrial,  commercial  and  municipal  institutions 
the  church  must  not  lag  in  recognizing  the  faith¬ 
ful  and  lifetime  service  of  its  ministers. 

The  church  has  the  opportunity  of  permanently 
solving  the  problem.  Buildings  must  be  re¬ 
newed,  enlarged  and  extended  as  the  years  go 
by,  but  an  endowment  for  the  benefit  of  the 
old  minister,  the  widow  and  the  orphan  will 
abide  forever. 

That  the  services  and  worth  of  both  active  and 
retired  Christian  ministers  demand  of  the 
laymen  an  adequate  support  is  a  fundamental 


policy  of  the  Interchurch  World  Movement. 
The  endowment  necessary  to  accomplish  this 
is  included  in  its  budget. 

THE  SUBMERGED  HALF 

THE  survey  discloses  the  acute  situation  as 
to  ministerial  support  and  the  duty  and 
imperative  necessity  that  rests  upon  the  church 
to  provide  adequate  compensation  for  its 
ministers,  active  and  retired. 

The  total  salaries  paid  in  1916  to  the  170,000 
clergymen  of  the  United  States  was  $125,000,- 
000.  Not  half  of  them  received  more  than 
$700.  The  greater  number  received  less  than 
the  minimum  subsistence  of  the  ordinary  work-  . 
ingman’s  family.  Even  with  allowances  for 
rent-free  houses  the  cost  of  food  alone  in  many 
instances  would  exhaust  the  minister’s  income. 
The  United  States  income  tax  returns  for  1918 
— which  give  the  entire  income,  not  the  salary 
alone — show  that  only  1,671  of  the  170,000 
active  clergymen — not  one  per  cent. — came 
within  the  tax  limit  of  $3,000: 

438  ministers  had  a  total  income  of  $3,000  to 
$4,000. 

404  ministers  had  a  total  income  of  $4,000  to 
$5,000. 

275  ministers  had  a  total  income  of  $5,000  to 

$6,000. 

162  ministers  had  a  total  income  of  $6,000  to 
$7,000. 

392  ministers  had  a  total  income  above  $7,000. 

SALARIES  IN  CITIES 

ARSONAGES  are  found  principally  in 
cities  or  larger  towns,  where  only  one-sixth 
of  all  the  ministers  live  and  where  salaries  are 
uniformly  larger  as  indicated  by  the  following 
table: 

Average  salary 


Cities  of  300,000  or  more .  $1,223 

“  “  300,000  to  100,000 .  1,110 

“  “  100,000  to  50,000 .  1,063 

“  “  50,000  to  25,000 .  972 

“  below  25,000 .  573 


DENOMINATIONAL  AVERAGES 

Averages  are  misleading  because  the  greatest 
number  of  ministers  are  in  the  small  salary  list. 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


5 


The  larger  salaries  make  the  average  a  maxi¬ 
mum  amount  for  most  of  them.  The  average 
of  salaries  below  $1,000  would  be  much  less 
than  $700. 

There  is  a  wide  range  of  differences  in  these 
denominational  averages: 

Average  salary 


Episcopalian .  $1,242 

Presbyterian  (North) .  1,177 

United  Presbyterian .  1,096 

Reformed  Church  (Dutch) .  1,170 

Methodist  Episcopal  (North) .  1,176 

Congregational . 1,042 

Baptist  (Northern) .  950 


After  eliminating  stated  supplies  and  occasional 
pastors  the  Congregational  Church  in  1916 
paid  to  one-half  of  its  entire  ministry  less  than 
$1,000  a  year.  The  increase  in  the  average 
salary  during  the  twenty-six  years  (1890  to 
1916)  was  but  one  and  one-tenth  per  cent. 
Reports  from  4,971  of  the  6,103  Congrega¬ 
tional  churches  showed  that 


2,783  churches  paid  less  than 


1,340 

u 

a 

u 

6  6 

517 

a 

n 

a 

66 

165 

u 

a 

66 

6  6 

89 

a 

n 

6  6 

66 

40 

u 

u 

66 

66 

37 

n 

a 

66 

66 

$1,000 

1,000  to  $1,500 
1,500  to  2,000 
2,000  to  3,000 
3,000  to  4,000 
4,000  to  5,000 
5,000  or  more 


The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  usually  pays 
its  clergy  better  than  do  other  denominations. 
Yet  half  of  them  receive  less  than  $1,500  a  year 
—a  sum  which  is  regarded  by  government 
economists  as  the  minimum  on  which  a  family 
can  be  decently  maintained.  In  New  England, 
the  Middle  West  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast — 
where  salaries  are  higher  than  the  average — 
twenty-eight  clergymen  receive  less  than  $500 
a  year;  fifty-three  receive  from  $500  to  $750; 
eighty-four  from  $750  to  $1,000;  506  from 
$1,000  to  $1,500;  and  only  fifty-eight  including 
bishops  and  general  officers,  receive  $3,000  or 
more.  The  highest  of  these  salaries  is  about  the 
same  as  that  of  an  expert  roller  in  a  steel  mill, 
the  lowest  is  lower  than  any  wages  paid  in  the 
steel  industry. 


their  ministers  and  to  groups  of  ministers  at 
different  ages: 


Age  of 
minister 

Average 

salary 

Average  dur¬ 
ing  his  entire 
ministry  up  to 
the  age  stated 

Group 

ages 

Average 

salary 

'  21 

$983 

$700 

20-29 

$1043 

25 

998 

701 

30-39 

1305 

30 

1225 

856 

40-49 

1577 

35 

1217 

900 

50-59 

1383 

40 

1531 

1046 

60-64 

1188 

45 

1387 

939 

65-69 

957 

50 

1469 

1014 

70-74 

658 

55 

1167 

902 

75  plus 

450 

60 

1396 

1153 

65 

1035 

840 

70 

719 

600 

75 

480 

550 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (North)  re¬ 
ports  for  1918  that 

1,932  ministers  received  less  than  $500. 

4,136  ministers  received  from  $500  to  $1,000. 
4,719  ministers  received  from  $1,000  to  $1,500. 
1,739  ministers  received  from  $1,500  to  $2,000. 
776  ministers  received  from  $2,000  to  $2,500. 
374  ministers  received  from  $2,500  to  $3,000. 
179  ministers  received  from  $3,000  to  $4,000. 
48  ministers  received  from  $4,000  to  $5,000. 

15  ministers  received  $5,000  or  over.  Only  one 
Methodist  minister  in  ten  received  $2,000  or 
over;  10,787  received  less  than  $1,500;  6,068 
less  than  $1,000;  and  1,932  less  than  $500. 

The  churches  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Conven¬ 
tion  pay  only  eight  per  cent,  of  their  ministers 
as  much  as  $1,500  per  year;  and  with  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  a  few  men  residing  in  large  cities 
the  average  salary  is  $683,  or  one-third  of  the 
present  wages  of  an  untrained,  unskilled 
foreign-born  laborer. 

The  Table  of  Ministerial  Salaries  is  significant. 
Returns  are  by  no  means  complete  since  the 
information  is  not  usually  accessible  in  printed 
form.  The  percentages  are  larger  than  those 
of  the  church  as  a  whole  but  their  lesson  is 
impressive. 


The  Disciples  of  Christ  pay  average  salaries  to 


Out  of  every  hundred  ministers  only  one  re- 


6 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


ceives  $4,000  or  more;  two  receive  $3,000  or 
more;  seven  receive  $2,000  or  more;  sixteen 
receive  $1,500  or  more;  and  eighty-four  receive 
less  than  $1,000.  Thirteen  ministers  out  of 
every  hundred  receive  less  than  $500. 


Classification 

1  per  cent,  of  ministers  receive  $4,000  or  more 


1.4 

(( 

u 

a 

4.6 

U 

u 

a 

9.3 

a 

u 

a 

32.6 

u 

(( 

u 

38.6 

a 

a 

a 

12.7 

a 

u 

a 

3,000  to  $4,000 
2,000  to  3,000 
1,500  to  2,000 
1,000  to  1,500 
500  to  1,000 
500  or  less 


SALARIES  BY  STATE  GROUPS 

FOR  the  sake  of  analysis  and  as  a  matter  of 
convenience  and  comparison  we  have  listed 
the  states  of  the  Union  in  five  groups  under  the 
following  classification : 

1.  The  New  England  States:  Connecticut, 
Maine,  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode 
Island,  Vermont. 


2.  The  North  Atlantic  States:  Delaware,  Dis¬ 
trict  of  Columbia,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia, 
West  Virginia. 

3.  The  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States:  Ala¬ 
bama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Tennessee,  Texas. 

4.  The  Central  States:  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa, 
Kansas,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Ne¬ 
braska,  North  Dakota,  Ohio,  Oklahoma,  South 
Dakota,  Wisconsin. 

5.  The  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific  States: 
Arizona,  California,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Montana, 
Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Oregon,  Utah,  Washing¬ 
ton,  Wyoming. 

The  condition  of  the  church  as  to  ministerial 
salaries  in  these  state  groups  is  shown  by  the 
following  table  which  gives  the  combined  sum¬ 
mary  of  these  groups  for  all  the  reporting  de¬ 
nominations: 


. 

C3 

f-i 

o 

4-3 

G 

s  s 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  SALARIES 

Group 

S  b 
ai 

cs 

f-t 

4) 

> 

>>  -2 

C3  S 

a  a> 

O)  £ 

bo 

C3 

I-,  0) 

O  Q. 

> 

<1 

Less 

than 

$500 

$500 

to 

$1000 

$1000 

to 

$1500 

$1500 

to 

$2000 

$2000 

to 

$2500 

$2500 

to 

$3000 

$3000 

to 

$4000 

$4000 

to 

$5000 

$5000 

and 

Over 

1.  New  England  States  .... 

1085 

5.84 

368 

872 

738 

286 

136 

68 

63 

16 

16 

2.  North  Atlantic  States  .  .  . 

3.  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf 

1034 

4.00 

476 

1453 

576 

682 

372 

181 

87 

26 

19 

States . 

737 

3.38 

245 

259 

94 

32 

9 

2 

4 

,  , 

.  . 

4.  Central  States . 

5.  Rocky  Mountain  and 

960 

4.75 

1194 

3902 

4160 

1220 

409 

188 

102 

33 

31 

Pacific  States . 

926 

6.00 

360 

812 

688 

213 

86 

46 

29 

9 

5  1 

The  United  States . 

937 

4.39 

2643 

7298 

6256 

2433 

1012 

485 

285 

84 

71 

The  reports  from  the  South  Atlantic  group  were  limited  by  the  fact  that  those  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention  and  a  number  of  smaller  denominations  were  not  reported. 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


7 


ISHPEMING  and  NEGAUNEE 


Land  of  Shadows 


4567  SALARIES  from 


Pitiable  $70 
Economies  $  600 

- $5°°  i 

’overty  i4ooA 


Land  of  the 
1  Deepening. 
Ik  Shadows 


1502  SALARIES  of 

$500  OR  LESS 


NEGAUNEE 


4  th. 
Heaven 
ISHPEMING 


TW~~— 

SALARIES 

$40  0  0 

and  OVER 


A 

Generous 
Provision 


3rd  Heaven  162  SALARIES  from  A  Just 

$3000™ $4000  Recognition 


2nd  Heaven 


Twilight  Zone 


5*46  SALARIES  from  A  Comfortable 
$2000™$3000  Support 

1095  SALARIES  FROM 

$1500^52000 


A  Living 

Wage 


The  Earth 


3 


$67  SALARIES  from  ^4  ^ 

1000  T0  $1500  Subsistence 


x?,%  •'.:?*»  '  .-.A  r 


T AY-BAY- WAIN-DUNG,  an  Ojibway  Indian  Medicine  Man,  explained  to  his  adopted 
son,  Kee-tchee-me-wah-nah-nah-quod,  the  future  life  as  taught  by  the  Ojibway. 

The  first  “layer”  of  that  life  is  a  sort  of  Ojibway  purgatory,  Negaumee,  out  of  which  after 
a  while  an  indian  may  make  his  escape  to  earth.  If  he  finds  the  tribal  totem-pole  he  may 
climb  up  into  the  first  “layer”  of  heaven.  In  due  time,  he  may  pass  through  the  second  and 
third  “layers”  of  the  upper  world  into  the  fourth  heaven,  Ishpeming ,  the  home  of  the  best  of 
the  good  Indians.  There  “Monedoo,”  the  great  and  good  God  lives. 

The  conditions  disclosed  by  the  survey  of  ministerial  support  are  significantly  illustrated  by 
“Negaunee” — the  minister’s  “Land  of  the  Deepening  Shadows”  of  financial  poverty — and 
“Ishpeming,”  his  Heaven  of  Adequate  Support 


8 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


Professional  Salaries 


YALE  university,  recognizing  the  inadequacy  of  the  salaries  paid  to  its  faculty 
and  the  losses  of  men  who  were  compelled  to  leave  the  staff  for  more  profitable 
work,  has  adopted  a  budget  which  adds  $300,000  annually  to  the  salaries  of 
its  professors.  Normal  salaries  of  full-time  professors  have  been  increased  as  follows: 
$4,000  salaries  to  $5,000;  $4,500  salaries  to  $6,000;  $6,000  salaries  to  $7,000;  a  few 
salaries  to  $8,000. 

Columbia  University  has  adopted  a  similar  budget  for  1920.  Harvard  is  now  driving 
for  a  $15,000,000  endowment  fund  to  ensure  a  living  wage  for  her  professors.  Prince¬ 
ton,  Cornell  and  other  large  colleges  and  technical  schools  are  doing  likewise. 

In  normal  times  the  low  level  of  salaries  for  ministers  was  a  source  of  financial  stress 
and  embarrassment.  Today  it  is  accentuated  by  the  greatly  increased  cost  of  living. 

Wholesale  prices  have  advanced  seventy-eight  per  cent,  since  the  beginning  of  the 
World  War  and  265  per  cent,  during  the  last  twenty  years.  Had  ministerial  salaries 
advanced  in  a  like  ratio  the  present  $1,000  salary  would  be  $2,650 — the  average 
increase  (20  per  cent.)  would  make  it  only  $1,200. 

Ministers  cannot  buy  at  wholesale  prices,  and  the  retail  price  of  fifteen  varieties  of 
food  advanced  92  per  cent,  in  the  ten  years  from  1907  to  1917,  and  from  12  per  cent, 
to  20  per  cent,  since  then.  According  to  the  National  Industrial  Conference  Board — 
a  federation  of  twenty  manufacturers’  associations — the  cost  of  living  for  the  American 
wage  earner  was  seventy-one  per  cent,  higher  in  July  1919  than  in  July  1914. 


ADVANCE  IN  WAGES 

NDUSTRIAL  investigators  find  that  the 
normal  income  of  a  workingman’s  family 
today  should  be  from  $1,100  to  $1,500  and  that 
wages  have  been  advanced  proportionately. 

But  no  such  advance  has  come  to  the  minister. 
To  even  approximate  the  standard  of  ten  years 
ago  the  minister’s  salary  should  be  advanced 
from  sixty  to  eighty  per  cent. 


INCREASED  WAGES  MEET 
INCREASED  LIVING  EXPENSES 

N  THE  industries  and  trades  the  increased 
cost  of  living  has  been  met  by  largely  in¬ 
creased  wages. 


From  September  1914  to  March  1919  the  aver¬ 
age  wages  of  men  in  eight  leading  industries 
increased  from  seventy-four  per  cent,  to  112 
per  cent. 

The  highest  percentage  of  increase  was  in  work 
where  the  earnings  had  been  relatively  low. 
This  increase  enabled  workers  in  general  to 
maintain  and  even  to  improve  their  1914 
standard  of  living. 

In  March  1919  the  highest  average  weekly  earn¬ 
ings  of  males  in  any  industry  were  $29.35  (as 
against  $14  in  1914)  in  rubber  manufacturing; 
the  lowest  was  $17.10  (as  against  $10  in  1914) 
in  cotton  manufacturing. 

The  following  table  is  significant: 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


9 


AVERAGE  WEEKLY  EARNINGS 

(Male  workers.) 


Industries 

Sept., 

1914 

Sept., 

1918 

Mar., 

1919 

Percentage  of 
increase 

1914- 

1918 

1918- 

1919 

Metal . 

$13.18 

$26 . 80 

$24.75 

103 

88 

Cotton. . . . 

10.00 

20.60 

17.10 

106 

71 

Wool . 

11.52 

23.21 

18.61 

102 

62 

Silk . 

11.77 

21.54 

22.69 

83 

93 

Boots  and 

Shoes. .  . 

14.70 

24.04 

25.90 

64 

76 

Paper . 

12.73 

22.40 

22.40 

76 

76 

Rubber.. . . 

14.00 

28.60 

29.35 

104 

110 

RESULTS  OF  INADEQUATE 
SALARIES 

HYSICAL  disability  and  mental  poverty 
are  due  to  inadequate  food  and  scanty 
literary  equipment. 

Burdensome  debts  or  exacting  economies  re¬ 
quire  a  minister  to  have  a  “side-line.” 

He  is  often  forced  to  quit  the  ministry  at  an 
early  age  in  order  to  provide  for  present  neces¬ 
sities  and  future  disabilities. 

The  influence  of  an  impoverished  ministry  dis¬ 
courages  recruits  to  its  ranks  from  the  best 
equipped  and  most  intelligent  youth. 

THERE  IS  A  DEARTH 
OF  MINISTERS 

N  ONE  denomination  3,388  congregations 
did  not  have  regular  pastoral  care.  In 
another  there  were  994  fewer  ministers  than 
in  1914. 

In  the  New  England  section  of  one  denomina¬ 
tion  thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the  congregations 
were  without  regular  ministers  in  1915. 

In  a  denomination  having  963  congregations 
only  627  had  settled  pastors. 

Another  reports  an  average  net  gain  of  25,680 
members,  but  of  only  thirty-four  ministers. 

Another  denomination  needs  a  thousand  minis¬ 
ters  a  year  to  fill  the  gaps. 


DECREASE  IN  THEOLOGICAL 
STUDENTS 

ETWEEN  1870  and  1910  increases  in  the 
student  body  of  three  professions  were  as 
follows:  dentistry,  5,405  per  cent.;  law,  1,083 
per  cent.;  theology,  238  per  cent. 

In  1911  there  was  a  total  decrease  of  178  theo¬ 
logical  students  as  compared  with  1910;  in  1913 
there  was  twenty  per  cent,  less  than  in  1912. 

The  summaries  of  one  denominational  group 
report  a  decrease  of  twenty-five  theological 
students  in  two  years — from  ninety-two  to 
sixty-seven.  Another  group  reports  the  loss  of 
fifty-four  students  from  1891  to  1916;  another, 
a  decrease  of  126  students  from  1896  to  1914. 

These  losses  occurred  during  a  period  marked 
by  an  increase  in  the  number  of  church  mem¬ 
bers  and  of  college  students. 

UNTRAINED  MINISTERS 
INCREASING 

N  ONE  denomination  1,624  more  unordained 
“supply  preachers”  were  used  in  1918  than 
in  1898. 

In  another,  out  of  986  ministers  only  476  gave 
their  full  time  to  ministerial  work. 

A  survey  of  an  Ohio  county  reveals  the  folly  of 
dividing  a  minister’s  time:  the  percentage  of 
gain  in  churches  which  had  one-quarter  of  the 
pastor’s  time  was  twenty-six  per  cent.;  those 
which  had  one-third  of  his  time,  thirty-five  per 
cent.;  those  with  only  one-half  of  his  time, 
thirty-nine  per  cent.  But  when  the  church 
had  all  of  the  minister’s  time  the  percentage  of 
gain  was  sixty  per  cent. 

The  proportion  of  trained  men  in  the  ministry 
is  not  increasing.  An  investigation  covering 
3,500  ministers  of  one  denomination  showed 
that  fifty  per  cent,  were  without  a  college  educa¬ 
tion,  and  not  one  in  four  had  both  college  and 
seminary  degrees. 

POOR  PAY- 

LOW  GRADE  PASTORS 

NSUFFICIENT  salaries  deter  young  men 
from  considering  the  ministry  as  a  life  work. 
One  denomination  reports:  “2,000  churches 


10 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


pastorless  and  shepherdless  because  of  poor 
salaries.” 

Inadequate  support  for  the  minister  and  his 
family  is  forcing  capable  young  and  middle- 
aged  men  with  college  and  seminary  training 
out  of  the  ministry. 

No  adequate  provision  for  the  old  age  or  dis¬ 
ability  of  the  ministers  and  their  dependents 
influences  young  men  to  enter  other  callings. 

THE  CHURCH  SUFFERS 

HE  church  has  more  at  stake  even  than  the 
ministers.  By  ignoring  their  just  require¬ 
ments  of  an  adequate  support  she  weakens  her 
claim  upon  the  best  young  men  of  promise  and 
ability.  The  laity  must  cease  considering  the 
support  of  the  ministry,  active  or  retired,  as  a 
benevolence. 

Self-respecting,  worthy,  high-grade  men  cannot 
be  secured  for  a  calling  in  which  their  salaries 
are  considered  a  charity.  Good  men  in  the 
ministry  deserve  support  both  while  they  serve 
and  while  they  wait  the  final  call. 

Laymen  must  be  led  to  see  the  justice  of  these 
claims. 

REMEDIES 

THE  remedy  is  to  provide  an  adequate 
salary  for  the  minister’s  active  years  and  a 
retiring  pension  for  his  old  age. 

The  best  young  men  are  not  deterred  from  com¬ 
ing  into  the  ministry  from  fear  of  sacrifices 
during  their  active  years. 

But  they  are  unwilling  to  face  poverty  at  the 
end  of  their  career. 

Adequate  pensions  drive  away  the  grim  spectres 
of  a  minister’s  life — unemployment,  disability 
and  death — and  their  consequences  to  those 
dependent  on  him.  Until  something  is  done  to 
take  the  minister  out  of  the  position  of  humiliat¬ 
ing  dependence  in  old  age,  desertions  to  more 
lucrative  professions  may  be  expected. 

The  church  will  continue  to  lose  men  from  the 
ministry  until  the  laymen  wake  up  to  the 
responsibility  of  taking  proper  care  of  the 
active  ministers  and  the  disabled  clergymen  in 
the  same  manner  that  business  houses  provide 


for  their  veteran  or  retired  employes.  These 
men  whose  lives  are  filled  with  efforts  to  cheer 
the  weary  and  give  heart  to  the  discouraged 
must  themselves  be  heartened  in  things  which 
concern  the  most  sacred  obligations  of  life — 
the  care  today  and  tomorrow  of  those  who  are 
bound  to  them  and  to  their  tasks  by  ties  of 
nature,  affection  and  consecration. 

CAUSES  OF  LOW  MINISTERIAL 
SALARIES 

OW  clerical  salaries  are  not  due  to  the 
poverty  of  the  laity.  Mr.  Carnegie  called 
a  certain  denomination  ‘The  richest  institution 
in  all  the  land.” 

If  so,  then  what  about  American  Protestantism 
with  its  aggregate  property  worth  two  billion 
dollars — equal  to  an  equipment  of  $12,000  per 
minister.  While  ministerial  salaries  were  in¬ 
creasing  less  than  twenty  per  cent.,  wages  in¬ 
creased  four  times  that  amount. 

The  average  prices  paid  to  rural  laymen  for 
their  crops  was  two  and  a  half  times  more  in 
1918  than  in  1910. 

THE  CHURCH’S 
GREATEST  ASSET 

THE  fear  of  commercializing  the  ministry 
is  groundless  as  long  as  ministers’  salaries 
are  so  far  below  any  real  purchasing  power. 

The  greatest  asset  of  Christiandom  is  not  the 
wealth  of  its  laity  but  the  sacrificial  service  of 
its  ministers. 

Laymen  do  not  pay  the  cost  value  of  the  men 
whose  services  they  use,  basing  that  cost  on  the 
expense  of  time  and  money  needed  for  prepara¬ 
tion.  Special  ability  and  capacity  are  de¬ 
manded  of  ministers  whose  character  must  be 
beyond  reproach,  and  who  must  and  do  possess 
learning,  culture,  a  knowledge  of  affairs  and 
administrative  ability. 

FIFTY  PROSPEROUS 
CHURCHES 

THE  Survey  Division  investigated  fifty 
prosperous  representative  churches  of  the 
Middle  West  as  to  the  per  capita  payment  per 
member  for  the  support  of  the  ministry  at  four 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


11 


periods  during  the  last  half  century.  These  are 
some  of  the  disclosures: 

The  individual  church  member  in  three  fine 
Kansas  churches  paid  nine  cents  per  week  less 
in  1916  than  he  did  in  1870;  four  cents  less  per 
week  than  in  1890,  and  one  cent  less  per  week 
than  in  1910. 

The  findings  in  fourteen  cases  are  shown  in  the 
following  table. 


The  fact  this  table  illustrates  spells  ruin  unless 
conditions  are  changed. 

PER  CAPITA  PAYMENT  ON  SALARIES 


Location  of  Churches 

1870 

1890 

1910 

1916 

Kansas . 

$7.56 

8.20 

7.00 

$6.00 

4.04 

4.29 

$4.85 

3.00 

2.17 

$3.16 

2.76 

2.30 

it 

it 

Average 

$7.58 

$4.78 

$3.34 

$2.74 

Minnesota . 

$6.25 

4.93 

4.30 

4.38 

$5.95 

2.15 

4.90 

5.73 

$3.68 

2.14 

3.18 

3.61 

$3.00 

2.70 

2.92 

4.02 

Michigan..  . 

it 

it 

Average 

$4.86 

$4.68 

$3.15 

$3.16 

Illinois . 

it 

$5.28 

6.00 

$3.00 

4.08 

2.55 

$3.96 

4.71 

1.75 

$2.74 

3.80 

1.93 

it 

Average 

$5.64 

$3.21 

$3.47 

$2.82 

Missouri . 

$6.00 

9.56 

$5.98 

4.61 

$4.82 

3.51 

$3.89 

3.71 

it 

Average 

$7.78 

$5.29 

$4.16 

$3.80 

Iowa . 

a 

$4.40 

$3.01 

4.13 

$2.37 

3.27 

$3.28 

2.69 

Average 

$4.40 

$3.57 

$2.87 

$2.98 

LOW  PER  CAPITA  CONTRIBUTIONS 

HE  failure  of  the  laity  to  meet  their 
financial  obligations  to  the  ministers  is  the 
principal  cause  of  scant  salaries;  the  attendant 
difficulties  of  recruiting  an  acceptable  ministry, 
and  the  loss  of  men  who  are  forced  to  engage 
in  business  enterprises  in  order  to  provide  for 
their  families.  This  threatens  the  ministerial 


supply  and  the  life  of  the  church.  That  in  the 
face  of  a  doubled  membership  and  property 
accumulation  the  laymen  individually  pay  no 
more  than  their  fathers  did  is  true  in  most 
churches.  As  a  rule  the  more  they  have  the  less 
they  give. 

EASING  THE  FINANCIAL 

CONSCIENCE 

NCREASED  strength  and  prosperity  have 
not  resulted  in  an  increased  sense  of  re¬ 
sponsibility  on  the  part  of  the  laymen  but 
rather  in  easing  their  financial  consciences. 
From  1915  to  1918  three  classes  of  churches  in 
a  certain  denomination  stood  out  from  others 
because  they  either  paid  the  largest  salaries  or 
had  the  largest  membership  or  owned  the  most 
valuable  property.  They  were  the  “high- 
salaried/’  “large”  and  “rich”  churches. 

But  the  laymen  of  these  prosperous  churches  paid 
less  per  member  for  the  support  of  the  ministry 
than  did  their  denomination  as  a  whole,  and  very 
much  less  than  did  the  smaller  churches.  They 
paid  less  than  they  themselves  did  ten  years 
ago.  Instead  of  bearing  the  burdens  of  the 
weak  they  were  carried  by  the  sacrifices  of  the 
smaller  churches. 

The  “high-salaried  churches” — 548  in  all — 
paid  a  salary  of  $3,000  or  more.  In  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  years  surveyed  were  years  of  great 
financial  prosperity  these  “high  salaried” 
churches  paid  four  cents  less  per  member  in 
1918  than  in  1915.  The  higher  salaries  were  not 
due  to  enlarged  liberality  but  in  spite  of  it. 

The  “large  churches” — 177  in  number— had  a 
membership  of  1,000  or  more.  From  1915  to 
1918  the  per  capita  payment  of  their  members 
decreased  eleven  cents.  Churches  with  the 
largest  membership  pay  less  per  member  than 
do  the  smaller  churches.  Instead  of  saying, 
“because  we  have  more  members  we  can  pay  a 
more  adequate  salary,”  they  say,  “because  we 
have  more  members  we  need  not  pay  as  much.” 

The  “rich  churches” — 208  in  number — had  a 
property  valuation  of  $100,000  or  more.  Their 
per  capita  payments  to  ministerial  support 
decreased  nineteen  cents  per  member.  God’s 
great  givers  are  always  those  who  have  felt  the 
thrill  of  giving. 


12 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


HORIZONTAL  GIVING 

HE  statistical  scheme  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  (North),  more  complete 
and  covering  a  longer  period  than  that  of  other 
denominations,  shows  that  the  per  capita  giving 
in  1918  was  $5.30;  in  1917,  $5.07;  in  1916,  $5.01; 
in  1915,  $5.00;  in  1914,  $5.04;  in  1913,  $5.08; 
and  in  1912,  $5.10.  The  average  member  paid 
only  two-fifths  of  a  cent  more  per  week  in  1918 
than  he  did  in  1912;  and  since  1900  the  per 
capita  weekly  payment  increased  only  nine- 
tenths  of  one  cent. 

The  graphic  line  which  represents  the  changes 
in  per  capita  payments  to  pastoral  support  has 
been  almost  horizontal  for  thirty-four  years. 
Meanwhile  the  total  growth  of  the  wealth  of 
the  nation,  according  to  government  reports, 
has  increased  to  over  $250,000,000,  or  $8,500 
per  family. 

A  TITHE  OF  A  TITHE 

THUS,  only  a  tithe  of  a  tithe  is  paid  by  the 
members  of  the  American  churches.  The 
average  income  of  the  members  of  Protestant 
churches  has  been  estimated  at  $400  a  year. 
A  tithe  on  such  incomes  would  yield  enough 
money  to  pay  all  that  was  paid  last  year  and 
then  leave  a  billion  dollars  for  the  seed-corn  of 
the  kingdom. 

The  combined  membership  of  the  Congrega¬ 
tional,  Baptist,  Presbyterian  and  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Churches  is  11,500,000.  Their  com¬ 
bined  income  (at  $400  per  year)  would  be 
$4,500,000,000.  A  tithe  of  a  tithe  (one  per 
cent.)  on  that  amount  would  yield  $45,000,000. 
The  income  of  the  six  million  Methodists  (at 
$400  each)  would  be  almost  $2,500,000,000. 
They  paid  their  ministers  $25,000,000,  or  one 
per  cent,  of  that  amount — not  a  tithe,  but  one- 
tenth  of  a  tithe.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  the  other  denominations  make  a  better 
showing. 

It  is  not  strange  that  there  has  been  an  increase 
of  less  than  twenty  per  cent,  in  the  salaries  of 
ministers  during  the  last  twelve  years.  How 
could  the  increase  be  larger  when  the  per  capita 
giving  of  the  laymen  has  not  increased. 

Only  when  an  aroused  conscience  shall  inspire 
a  higher  standard  of  Christian  giving  will  con¬ 


ditions  improve.  It  is  easy  to  become  enam¬ 
oured  of  totals,  but  totals  of  ministerial  support 
are  made  up  of  small  items  which  seriously 
affect  the  personal  interests  of  the  pastors  and 
their  families. 

THE  DOUBLE  CURVE 

CHURCH  membership  is  increasing  propor¬ 
tionately  more  rapidly  than  population. 
The  curve  which  represents  population  ascends 
less  rapidly  than  that  which  shows  church 
membership.  If  this  condition  continues  there 
is  a  mathematical  certainty  that  the  church 
membership  v/ill  some  day  overtake  the  popula¬ 
tion. 

This  would  be  encouraging  were  it  not  accom¬ 
panied  by  the  threatening  fact  that  financially 
the  church  is  on  the  downward  path. 

Unless  this  is  changed  there  can  be  only  one 
end — bankruptcy.  The  operation  of  economic 
law  is  just  as  sure  in  the  church  as  in  business. 
The  laymen  who  have  dealt  liberally  with 
world-wide  and  national  charities,  but  who  are 
paying  less  each  year  to  support  the  ministry, 
must  assume  larger  responsibilities. 

THE  WAY  OUT 

THE  way  out  is  to  give  the  facts  to  the 
church.  The  same  principles  which  assure 
cooperation,  loyalty,  industry  and  contentment 
in  business  affairs  apply  equally  well  to  church 
affairs.  Churches  have  been  compelled  to  add 
from  fifty  to  eighty  per  cent,  to  the  salaries  of 
their  janitors  and  church  secretaries.  They 
cannot  keep  their  churches  warm  and  clean 
without  paying  more  for  it. 

What  about  the  chilly  winds  of  unmet  needs 
which  blow  against  the  parsonage  where  resides 
the  minister  who  is  not  working  for  money  and 
is  tied  to  his  task  by  his  vows  and  ideals?  Do 
not  compel  him  to  break  them. 

Laymen  are  under  vows  to  support  the  ministry 
and  the  institutions  of  the  church.  The  in¬ 
junction,  “Vow  and  pay  thy  vows!”  is  on  them. 

SALARY  INCREASES 

PLANS  for  salary  increases,  based  on  a 
minimum  salary,  have  been  developed  in 
several  denominations. 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


13 


MINISTERIAL  SALARIES 
PER  CAPITA  GIVING 
INCREASED  WAGES 
and  LIVING  EXPENSES 


The  Congregationalists  started  a  salary  increase 
fund  through  the  Home  Missionary  Society. 
The  Pittsburgh  Presbytery  of  the  United  Pres¬ 
byterian  Church  requires  $1,800  for  an  ordained 
minister  and  family.  The  Commission  on 
Finance  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
(North)  analyzes  the  conditions  and  recom¬ 
mends  a  minimum  salary,  larger  than  the 
average,  with  a  larger  percentage  of  increase 
for  the  smaller  salaried  ministers.  The  re¬ 
sponse  has  been  prompt  and  willing.  Most 
annual  conferences  have  adopted  a  minimum 
salary  which  at  present  varies  from  $1,000  to 
$1,500. 

The  Disciples  of  Christ  (1919)  recommended 
a  conscientious  effort  by  all  local  churches  to 
increase  salaries  and  urged  the  following  scale 
of  increase:  salaries  under  $1,500,  increase 
twenty-five  per  cent.;  between  $1,500  and 
$2,000,  increase  twenty  per  cent;  between  $2,000 
and  $3,000,  increase  fifteen  per  cent.;  above 
$3,000,  increase  ten  per  cent.  “We  consider  it 
vital  to  the  maintenance  of  our  ministry  in  ade¬ 
quate  strength  that  the  salary  question  be  taken 
up  by  the  laymen  and  disposed  of  adequately  and 
immediately.” 

THE  INDISPENSABLE  MAN 

N  ORGANIZED  Christianity  the  minister 
is  the  Indispensable  Man.  Every  great 
church  movement  has  relied  on  the  faithfulness 
of  the  pastor  and  the  possibility  of  exploiting 
him  to  see  the  program  through.  He  has 
always  been  the  willing  servant  of  the  kingdom 
and  has  followed  his  ideals  in  carrying  out  great 
tasks. 

Strength  is  given  to  the  Interchurch  World 
Movement  because  of  its  basic  proposition  that 
the  minister’s  position,  rights  and  compensa¬ 
tion  shall  be  fully  recognized,  and  that  he  shall 
be  adequately  provided  for,  both  during  his 
active  years  and  in  his  old  age.  His  condition 
has  gone  far  beyond  that  of  willingness  to  make 
personal  sacrifices.  It  is  a  question  of  sacri¬ 
ficing  his  success,  his  home  and  his  family.  To 
be  willing  to  make  the  sacrfice  is  magnificent, 
to  be  sacrificed  needlessly  by  a  well-to-do 
laity,  engrossed  in  its  own  personal  enterprises, 
is  a  great  tragedy  and  falls  little  short  of  a 


crime. 


14 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


HOSPITALS 

THE  minister  is  asked  to  raise  money  for 
hospitals,  but  should  he  or  members  of  his 
family  fall  sick,  the  expenses  for  hospital  care 
and  a  trained  nurse  must  be  paid  out  of  his 
meagre  salary. 

In  the  majority  of  cases  this  salary  is  less  than 
$20  a  week,  or  half  the  amount  he  must  pay 
for  a  trained  nurse.  Such  emergencies  can  only 
be  met  on  a  charity  basis.  To  self-respecting 
ministers  a  state  institution  supported  by  taxes 
to  which  he  pays  is  less  offensive  than  the 
ordinary  charitable  offer  of  a  free  bed  to  be 
charged  to  “compulsory  charity.” 

COLLEGES 

HE  minister  is  asked  to  work  for  colleges. 
To  his  credit  and  to  the  amazement  of 
those  who  know  the  conditions  he  has  in  some 
way  managed  to  send  his  children  to  college. 
But  what  layman  has  any  realization  of  the 
scrimping  and  saving,  the  humiliating  charit¬ 
able  discounts,  reduced  term  charges,  or  scholar¬ 
ships  to  which  he  must  have  recourse. 

Laymen  who  contribute  to  educational  insti¬ 
tutions  and  provide  scholarships  should  be 
willing  to  pay  their  ministers  adequately. 

PASTORS  are  preaching  to  prosperous 
groups  of  laymen  each  one  of  which  pays 
to  someone  who  does  very  ordinary  work  more 
than  the  entire  group  pays  to  the  minister  who 
renders  invaluable  service! 

Pastors  preach  to  laymen  who  individually 
pay  more  to  men  who  run  their  automobiles 
than  they  pays  for  a  man  to  run  their  church! 

In  their  congregations  are  men  who  personally 
in  one  month  earn  more  than  is  paid  in  a  year 
by  their  entire  group  for  the  support  of  their 
pastor.  Rural  ministers  are  preaching  to  groups 


of  farmers  who  individually  pay  more  to  the 
“hired  man”  than  their  combined  quota  for  the 
support  of  their  pastor.  Down  in  the  cotton- 
fields,  Negro  ministers  are  preaching  to  fifty  or 
more  cotton  pickers  who  individually  are  paid 
more  for  picking  cotton  than  their  entire 
neighborhood  pays  to  the  preacher  in  a  year. 

THE  CALL  TO  THE 

YOUNG  MAN 

OUNG  men  do  not  determine  their  call  to 
the  ministry  on  the  basis  of  salary.  But 
the  church  that  puts  a  low  estimate  on  the  value 
of  their  services  and  the  importance  of  their 
task  is  not  likely  to  appeal  successfully  to  the 
young  man  who  prizes  the  one  life  he  has  to 
live  and  wants  to  make  it  count  in  the  world. 
Young  men  are  not  drawn  to  the  ministry  by 
the  lure  of  luxurious  living,  but  the  church  can 
never  make  a  compelling  appeal  to  its  best 
young  men  until  it  gives  a  fair  financial  re¬ 
cognition  to  the  value  of  their  services. 

MEETING  A  CRISIS 

INISTERS  are  the  officers  of  the  army 
of  the  Lord.  The  nation  that  loses  its 
officers  loses  its  army;  and  if  the  army  be  lost 
the  nation  is  lost;  and  if  the  nation  be  lost,  all 
is  lost.  The  only  way  that  the  nation  can  sur¬ 
vive  is  to  provide  trained  officers. 

America  came  late  into  the  World  War,  not 
from  lack  of  men  willing  to  follow  the  flag  but 
because  of  the  time  necessary  to  train  officers 
to  lead  them. 

It  is  so  in  the  church.  If  we  lose  the  ministers 
we  lose  the  army  of  the  Lord  and  have  only  an 
unorganized  religious  mob;  and  if  we  lose  the 
Christian  army,  we  lose  the  church ;  and  to  lose 
the  church  is  to  lose  all. 

The  Church  provides  vision.  “Where  there  is 
no  vision  the  people  perish.” 


“It’s  good  to  grow  old”  when  surrounded 
by  home  comforts,  rejoicing  in  a  rich  experi¬ 
ence,  amply  provided  for,  free  from  anxiety 
concerning  the  welfare  of  loved  ones. 


y/-^yj^EL7rY  //~jU  s  T  I  c  E 

/ N  p  lime SS 

/[APPRE^ 


- Yf.  ITION 


affectio 


devot/on 


\/  £ N  E  R  AT/O  N 


H E A VE N 


But  what  of  the  aged  minister,  whose  in¬ 
come  during  his  active  years  has  been  insuf¬ 
ficient  to  enable  him  to  provide  adequately  for 
the  future? 

Physically  unable  to  continue  his  chosen 
work — his  earning  power  gone — without  in 
come  or  property — he  must  face  an  old  age  of 
deprivation  and  anxiety. 

All  his  life  he  has  traveled  an  uphill  road 
that  was  none  too  smooth— cheerfully  devoting 
his  whok  time,  strength,  and  spiritual  vitality 
to  loving  service  for  his  fellowmen. 

What  of  the  “last  mile?” 

With  your  gifts  it  can  be  made  smooth  for 
the  feet  at  last  grown  weary — without  them  it 
will  be  steep  and  rough  and  difficult,  and  will 
halt  the  feeble  traveler  all  too  soon. 

There  are  many  thousand  ministers,  and 
ministers’  widows  and  orphans,  who  are  de¬ 
pendent  upon  your  generosity  for  the  common 
comforts  of  life. 

A  small  sacrifice  on  your  part  will  be  a  boon 
to  those  who  have  sacrificed  so  much  for  the 
Great  Cause. 

What  will  you  do?  You  can  help  by  a  gift, 
a  bequest,  or  the  purchase  of  a  life  Annuity 
Bond. 

nQive  them  the  flowers  now” 


16 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


Ministerial  Support  in  Terms  of  Auto- 
mobile  Cost  and  Upkeep 

Intrinsic  values  and  prices  are  not  the  same  thing.  A  good  man  is  worth 
far  more  than  any  machine.  The  world  needs  to  be  educated  up  to  this  idea. 


Minister’s 

Salaries 

Note  that: 

Class  1. 

Salary  $600  a 
year. 

These  ministers  receive,  for  a  whole 
year’s  work,  a  sum  less  than  the 
initial  cost  of  the  cheapest  car  on  the 
market. 

Class  2. 

Salary  $600  to 
$900  a  year. 

Many  an  individual  layman  spends 
more  for  and  on  his  car  than  the 
whole  congregation  pays  for  its 
minister’s  entire  yearly  salary. 

Class  3. 

Salary  $900  to 
$1,500  a  year. 

A  car  is  only  one  item  in  the  business 
man’s  budget.  A  minister  has  to 
support  his  family  for  a  whole  year 
often  on  less  than  this  one  item  costs 
his  parishioner. 

Class  4. 

Salary  $1,500 
to  $3,000  a  year. 

A  car  can  serve  at  best  but  a  few 
people.  A  minister  serves  the  whole 
community  all  the  time.  A  car  is  a 
constant  liability.  A  good  minister 
is  a  permanent  asset. 

Class  5. 

Salary  $3,000 
to  $5,000  a  year. 

It  is  often  more  profitable  to  act  as 
chauffeur  in  a  luxurious  limousine 
than  to  shepherd  a  thousand  souls. 
This  inequality  is  ^either  just  nor 
necessary.  Let  us  help  change  it. 

Types  of  cars 


“How  much  better  is  a  man  than  a  machine  !" 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


17 


Pension  Plans  of  Corporations 

OLD  age  pensions  belong  to  modern  civilization.  Fifty  years  ago  employees 
did  not  expect  a  pension  in  recognition  of  long  and  faithful  service,  but 
now  a  considerable  portion  of  the  working  people  of  America  work  in  the 
twilight  glow  of  an  expected  retirement  annuity.  An  irresistible  law  of  justice  has 
accomplished  the  new  order. 

Pension  plans  adopted  by  commercial,  industrial,  public  service  and  other  institutions 
indicate  this  change. 

The  International  Harvester  Company,  an  industrial  corporation,  provides  an  old 
age  annuity  of  from  $18  to  $100  a  month. 

The  Standard  Oil  Company,  a  producing  corporation,  provides  an  annuity,  payable 
monthly,  for  all  employes  who  have  been  twenty  years  or  longer  in  continuous  active 
service;  also  a  death  benefit,  payable  to  the  beneficiaries  of  employes. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  provides  a  pension  or  annuity  for  all  employes, 
the  amount  determined  by  the  wages  received  and  the  years  of  service. 

The  American  Telegraph  and  Telephone  Company,  a  public  service  corporation, 
provides  an  annuity  for  all  employes  who  have  been  in  its  service  for  twenty  years 
or  more;  also  sick,  disability  and  death  benefits. 

The  Carnegie  Foundation,  an  endowed  corporation,  was  established  for  the  benefit 
of  retired  college  professors  and  instructors.  The  pension  is  based  on  the  years  of 
service,  and  amounts  to  one-half  of  the  average  salary  paid  during  the  last  five  years 
plus  $400. 

The  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  a  financial  corporation,  pays  a  pension  to  its 
employes  amounting  to  one-fiftieth  of  their  salary  (at  date  of  retirement)  for  each 
year  of  service,  with  a  maximum  pension  of  $6,000. 

Secular  corporations  are  in  advance  of  the  churches  in  plans  for  providing  old  age  and 
disability  pensions. 

How  far  in  advance  is  shown  by  the  following  comparison  between  the  pensions 
assured  by  the  foregoing  corporations  and  those  planned  by  six  representative 
churches,  all  placed  on  the  same  basis: 


18 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


PENSIONS  COMPARED 

1.  The  pensions  assured  by  these  six  corpora¬ 
tions,  based  on  thirty-five  years  of  service  and 
a  salary  or  wage  of  $2,000  during  the  last  ten 
years  of  employment,  are  as  follows: 


Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company .  $700 

International  Harvester  Company. ...  875 

Standard  Oil  Company .  1,400 

American  Telegraph  &  Telephone  Com¬ 
pany . 1,400 

First  National  Bank,  Chicago .  1,400 

Carnegie  Foundation .  1,400 


Average  pension . $1,196 

2.  The  pensions  promised  by  six  representative 
churches  on  the  same  basis  are  as  follows: 

Church  A . $875 

Church  B .  500 

Church  C .  500 

Church  D .  500 

Church  E .  470 

Church  F .  350 

Average  pension . $533 


In  only  one  instance  does  a  church  plan  to  pro¬ 
vide  a  pension  in  excess  of  the  minimum  amount 
paid  by  any  of  the  above  corporations;  and  then 
it  is  based  on  an  assumed  ministerial  salary  of 
$2,000  during  the  ten  years  preceding  retire¬ 
ment — an  unusual  case. 

Most  of  the  church  plans  are  uncompleted  and 
the  retired  ministers  do  not  receive  the  promised 
amounts.  The  church — “the  richest  institution 
in  all  the  land” — should  do  right  by  her  old 
ministers. 

PENSION  PLANS  OF  CHURCHES 

HE  Christian  church,  which  'taught  the 
principle  of  economic  justice  to  a  thousand 
commercial,  industrial  and  municipal  corpora¬ 
tions,  has  been  herself  slow  to  recognize  the 
faithful,  indispensable  and  life-long  services  of 
her  ministers. 

The  pension  plans  fall  into  three  general  classes: 

(1)  support  or  pension  based  on  years  of  service, 

(2)  relief  or  disability  help  and  (3)  contributory 
annuity. 


RECENT  DENOMINATIONAL  PLANS 

ITH  the  exception  of  funds  held  by 
conventions,  presbyteries,  conferences, 
etc.,  church  pension  plans  are  of  recent  origin 
and  no  denomination  as  yet  has  an  adequate 
endowment. 

There  has  been  little  cooperation  or  uniformity 
in  providing  money  for  pensions  and  relief. 
The  Interdenominational  Secretarial  Council 
has  developed  some  unity  of  plans  among  the 
several  boards,  each  of  which,  working  out  its 
own  problem  in  its  own  way,  has  had  the  in¬ 
spiration  of  the  methods  and  work  of  the  others. 
The  oldest  and  most  general  plan  is  that  of 
relief  and  in  some  churches  it  is  the  only  method. 
The  newer  tendency  is  toward  an  actuarially 
defined  pension  based  on  years  of  service.  No 
plan  can  dispense  entirely  with  provision  to 
meet  special  needs.  Disability  benefits  are 
sometimes  provided  by  a  contributory  or¬ 
ganization  which  helps  a  minister  in  an  emer¬ 
gency. 

NUMBER  OF  BENEFICIARIES 

HE  number  of  ministers  in  seventeen 
reporting  denominations  who  may  in  time 
become  eligible  to  old  age  benefits  is  73,703. 
The  number  of  beneficiaries  reported  by  these 
churches  was  15,772.  The  returns  are  incom¬ 
plete  and  difficult  to  classify.  In  some  denomi¬ 
nations  every  retired  minister,  minister's  widow 
and  dependent  orphan  child  is  a  beneficiary; 
while  in  others  formal  application  and  action 
is  required. 

Seventeen  denominations  reported  15,772  bene¬ 
ficiaries,  viz:  6,580  retired  ministers,  7,833 
widows,  and  1,359  dependent  orphans.  Of 
these  13,545  were  classified  according  to  the 
amounts  received  as  follows: 


4,119  beneficiaries  received  less  than  $100 

3,805 

n 

from  $100  to  $200 

2,904 

u 

u 

200  to 

300 

1,559 

a 

a 

300  to 

400 

571 

a 

i  i 

400  to 

500 

401 

n 

6  C 

500  to 

600 

139 

a 

i  i 

600  to 

700 

38 

u 

if 

700  to 

800 

9 

a 

if 

800  to 

900 

MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


19 


TWO  HUNDRED  A  YEAR! 

NLY  577  out  of  the  13,545  beneficiaries — 
less  than  6  per  cent. — received  over 
$500;  three-fifths  of  them — 7,924— received 
less  than  $200;  and  one-third  of  them — 4,119 — 
received  less  than  $100.  The  returns  cover 
sixty  per  cent,  of  the  total  Protestant  ministry 
— a  sufficient  number  to  show  the  inadequacy 
of  the  present  provisions  for  the  support  of  the 
retired  ministers. 

The  laymen  cannot,  even  if  they  would,  set 
themselves  against  such  massed  facts.  The 
veterans  of  Christ  are  without  reasonable  pro¬ 
tection  in  their  day  of  need,  while  business 
corporations  with  sound  economic  judgment 
guard  the  old  age  of  their  employes  by  adequate 
pensions.  Can  the  church  expect  the  world  to 
heed  it  if  guilty  of  social  injustice?  The  church 
must  square  its  practice  with  its  teaching. 

RECRUITING  THE  MINISTRY 

HE  care  of  the  aged  minister  is  closely 
related  to  pastoral  efficiency  as  well  as  to 
the’ task  of  recruiting  vigorous  and  intelligent 
young  men  for  the  ministry. 

If  the  church  neglects  its  old  ministers  it  will 
not  find  young  men  to  take  their  places. 

The  fear  of  want  in  old  age  lessens  the  present 
efficiency  of  the  conscientious  worker  who, 
burdened  by  his  fear  of  dependency,  is  com¬ 
pelled  to  limit  the  means  necessary  to  keep 
abreast  of  the  times,  and  must  work  amid  fore¬ 
bodings  of  the  wolf  at  the  door  at  eventide. 

The  facts  as  to  inadequate  salaries  presented  in 
Part  I  are  accentuated  when  the  minister  is 
retired.  The  pathos  of  his  situation  is  em¬ 
phasized  by  the  fact  that  the  meagre  support 
received  during  his  active  years  makes  it  im¬ 
possible  for  him  to  provide  for  his  old  age,  when 
retirement  comes  his  earning  power  is  gone. 

THE  INTERCHURCH  PROGRAM 

HROUGH  the  Interchurch  World  Move¬ 
ment  there  comes  an  opportunity  for  the 
church  to  discharge  for  all  time  the  obligations 
which  are  now  brought  home  to  its  conscience 
by  every  consideration  of  honor,  esteem,  grati¬ 
tude  and  justice. 


The  millions  put  into  buildings  and  equipment 
will  have  to  be  renewed  but  a  permanent  en¬ 
dowment  for  the  benefit  of  the  old  minister  will 
remain  forever. 

In  this  day  when  states,  cities,  schools,  corpora¬ 
tions,  industrial  and  other  establishments  are 
providing  for  their  old  and  faithful  employes — 
not  as  a  charity  but  as  a  matter  of  economic 
justice — it  would  be  strange  indeed  if  the  last 
among  faithful  servants  to  be  thus  rewarded 
should  be  the  retired  minister. 

The  church  protects  by  insurance  a  part  of  her 
assets — her  buildings — but  fails  to  protect  her 
largest  asset — her  ministry — against  disability 
and  old  age. 

The  result  is  loss  of  efficiency,  power  and  ser¬ 
vice. 

The  church  has  not  as  yet  developed  a  sufficient 
sense  of  responsibility  or  an  appreciation  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  good  business  and 
righteous  procedure  in  the  matter  of  ministerial 
support  and  relief. 

ANNUAL  INCOME  REQUIRED 

HE  total  amount  of  income  required  an¬ 
nually  to  meet  the  obligations  for  pensions 
and  relief  of  seven  of  the  twenty-one  denomina¬ 
tions  which  reported  to  the  Survey  Division 
was  $4,385,162. 

The  total  annual  income  of  six  of  these  de¬ 
nominational  funds  was  $1,715,366. 

The  net  additional  amount  needed  to  pay  in  full 
the  claims  of  all  the  retired  ministers,  widows 
and  orphans  of  these  six  denominations  is 
$1,742,151. 

This  amount,  expressed  in  the  terms  of  endow¬ 
ment,  at  5  per  cent.,  would  be  $34,843,020. 

In  other  words  the  additional  endowment 
needed  in  order  to  meet  the  net  unprovided 
annual  amount  required  to  pay  the  claims  of 
all  the  retired  ministers,  widows  and  orphans 
of  ministers  of  these  six  denominations  would 
be  $34,843,020. 

Eleven  additional  denominations  need  ad¬ 
ditional  endowment  of  $25,332,306. 


20 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


Add  to  this  the  amount  already  needed  by  the 
six  denominations,  viz:  $34,843,020,  and  the 
total  amount  required  is  $60,175,326.  This  is 
the  amount  which  the  Survey  shows  should 
be  the  budget  of  the  Interchurch  World  Move¬ 
ment  for  the  pensioning,  support  and  relief  of 
the  retired  ministers. 

ANNUITY  OR  PENSION  FUNDS 

ON  A  CONTRIBUTORY  BASIS 

ETAILED  information  required  for  the 
organization  of  a  contributory  annuity  or 
pension  fund  cannot  be  given  in  this  brief 
resume.  Here  is  simply  indicated  the  kind  of 
information  required  by  an  analysis  of  the 
Church  Pension  Fund  and  the  Annuity  Fund 
for  Congregational  Ministers. 

Each  denomination  must  adapt  its  plan  to 
special  conditions,  and  since  a  contributory 
pension  or  annuity  fund  assumes  clearly  de¬ 
fined  financial  obligations,  it  should  not  be 
adopted  unadvisedly.  Data  must  be  secured 
and  this  requires  time,  patience,  technical  skill 
and  money.  The  Episcopal  Church  provided 
an  advance  budget  of  $150,000  for  actuarial 
work,  tabulation,  analysis  and  preparation. 
The  plan  was  as  follows: 

THE  CHURCH  PENSION  FUND 

1.  Collecting  information.  2.  Separation  of 
“accrued  liabilities”  from  future  liabilities. 
3.  An  initial  reserve  of  $5,000,000  to  provide  for 
the  “accrued  liabilities”;  by  which  is  meant  the 
liability  for  that  part  of  the  promised  pension 
which  is  based  upon  services  rendered  prior  to 
March  1,  1917.  4.  A  permanent  pension  ac¬ 
count,  to  which  7 3^2  per  cent,  of  the  clergymen’s 
salaries  are  paid  each  year.  Other  funds, 
diocesan,  etc.,  have  been  merged  into  this 
account.  5.  Benefits:  (1)  At  the  age  of  68  an 
annuity  equal  to  l}4  per  cent,  of  the  clergy¬ 
man’s  average  annual  income,  multiplied  by 
the  number  of  years  in  which  assessments  have 
been  paid  by  him,  after  March  1,  1917.  The 
minimum  annuity  is  $600  and  the  maximum 
50  per  cent,  of  the  average  income  since 
ordination;  with  special  limitations  applying 
to  clergymen  who  were  over  the  age  of  35  years 
when  they  were  ordained;  and  also  for  calculat¬ 
ing  the  minimum  annuity  when  all  assessments 


have  not  been  paid.  (2)  A  total  disability  bene¬ 
fit  of  an  annuity  equal  to  40  per  cent,  of  the 
average  income  for  the  five  years  preceding  the 
disability,  with  a  minimum  of  $600.  (3)  A 

widow’s  annuity,  under  certain  limitations, 
equal  to  half  the  annuity  to  which  her  husband 
would  have  been  entitled.  (4)  For  orphans 
with  certain  adjustments,  the  payment  of  $100  a 
year  if  under  the  age  of  seven;  $200,  from  seven 
to  fourteen;  $300,  from  fourteen  to  twenty-one. 
(5)  Pension  benefits  are  not  available  for  clergy¬ 
men  who  retired  before  March  1,  1917.  (6) 
The  questionnaire  submitted  to  the  clergy,  in 
order  to  secure  an  actuarial  basis  for  the  Church 
Pension  Fund,  was  as  follows: 


Name . diocese  or  missionary  dis¬ 
trict . residence . 

parish,  mission  or  other  ecclesiastical  body .... 

. official  position . 

date  of  birth . year  of  ordination  to 

the  diaconate . have  you  a  wife 

living? . date  of  wife’s  birth . 

date  of  marriage . sex  and  date  of 

birth  of  all  living  children . 


Note  to  Financial  Questions  Following: 

The  purpose  of  the  Commission  is  to  learn  the 
ecclesiastical  income  now  received  by  you.  In¬ 
come  from  private  property  should  not  be  in¬ 
cluded.  We  wish  the  amount  of  your  present 
total  salary  or  stipend,  and  whether  received 
from  parochial,  diocesan,  or  other  ecclesiastical 
sources,  with  the  respective  amounts.  If  you 
have  the  use  of  a  rectory,  house,  or  apartment, 
we  wish  your  estimate  of  the  amount  that  it 
is  worth  to  you  per  year.  If  you  are  earning 
ecclesiastical  income  in  other  ways,  kindly  state 
the  amount. 

Total  salary  or  stipend.  Specify  official  sources, 
whence  derived,  with  separate  amounts.  Worth 
to  you  of  rectory  or  apartment  per  year.  Other 

ecclesiastical  earnings.  Total . 

Remarks  or  explanations. 

THE  ANNUITY  FUND  FOR 
CONGREGATIONAL  MINISTERS 

HIS  fund  will  receive  the  income  of  the 
five  million  dollar  “Pilgrim  Memorial 
Fund.”  The  new,  expanded  plan  goes  into  effect 
January  1,  1921,  as  follows: 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


21 


1.  Benefits :  (1)  An  old  age  annuity — beginning 

at  the  age  of  65;  minimum  $500.  Disability : 
(2)  Protection  for  the  widow  or  other  depend¬ 
ents  in  the  event  of  the  member’s  death  prior 
to  the  age  of  65.  (3)  Additional  disability 

benefits  in  case  of  death  or  permanent  dis¬ 
ability  prior  to  the  age  of  65,  for  which  addi¬ 
tional  payments  are  required.  (4)  A  share  of 
the  distributable  income  of  the  “Pilgrim 
Memorial  Fund”  to  be  credited  on  the  next 
year’s  dues.  (5)  Option  to  receive  an  old  age 
joint  life  annuity  in  which  the  widow  will  share; 
or  a  deferred  old  age  life  annuity  with  larger 
benefits. 

2.  Dues :  Six  per  cent,  of  the  salary  received 
each  year  (based  on  a  minimum  of  $1,000)  to 
cover  the  old  age  annuity;  additional  dues  to 
cover  other  benefits. 

In  working  out  the  plan  actuarial  determina¬ 
tion  was  made  as  to  the  annuities  which  could 
be  purchased  by  accumulated  credits  under 
varying  conditions. 

The  amount  of  the  annuity  resulting  from 
the  payment  of  $60  annually  during  a  period 
of  35  years,  closing  at  the  age  of  65,  was 
$514.72 — more  than  50  per  cent,  of  the 
assumed  salary  of  $1,000. 


WILL  OUR  CHILDREN  BE 
BETTER  THAN  THEIR  FATHERS? 

HE  prophet’s  confession,  “I  am  not  bet¬ 
ter  than  my  fathers,”  will  come  to  the 
lips  of  the  laymen  who  study  the  per  capita 
giving  of  church  members  and  learn  that,  not¬ 
withstanding  unparalleled  prosperity,  the  aver¬ 
age  layman  today,  not  only  proportionately 
but  in  actual  amount  per  member,  is  paying 
no  more  to  the  support  of  the  ministry  than  his 
father  or  grandfather  or  great-grandfather  did. 

Had  payments  by  Christian  laymen  for  the 
support  of  the  ministry  increased  in  proportion 
to  increased  wealth  salaries  could  have  been 
doubled,  and  millions  provided  for  the  extension 
of  the  Kingdom.  More  important  than  all, 
hundreds  of  high-grade,  well-trained,  effective 
ministers  would  not  have  been  forced  into 
secular  pursuits  in  order  to  provide  for  their 
families;  and  young  men  of  parts  and  learning, 
seeing  that  the  laymen  were  willing  to  share 
their  prosperity  with  them,  even  as  in  the  past 
the  ministers  shared  the  poverty  of  the  laymen, 
would  not  have  had  the  lure  of  their  call  clouded 
by  the  forecast  of  a  helpless  and  dependent 
old  age;  and  many  a  fine,  high-minded,  devoted 
young  man  would  have  invested  his  life  in  the 
Christian  ministry. 


22 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


A  HUMAN  CENTURY 

N  THE  picture  Dr.  Seth  Reed,  of  Flint, 
Michigan,  now  in  his  ninety-eighth  year, 
one  of  the  oldest  living  ministers,  and  Dr.  P. 
B.  Hoyt,  retired,  seventy  years  of  age,  represent 
the  past;  two  pastors,  forty-five  and  twenty- 
five  years  old  respectively,  represent  the  pres¬ 
ent;  and  the  three  boys  represent  the  future. 
The  men  are  alike  in  their  devotion  to  the 
church.  The  average  laymen  paid  more  to  the 
support  of  Dr.  Reed  and  his  associate  than  the 
laymen  today,  who  are  bound  by  like  vows, 
pay  for  the  support  of  their  ministers.  One 
way  for  the  present  generation  to  rectify  this 
decreasing  liberality  is  to  make  adequate  pro¬ 
vision  for  the  ministers’  old  age. 


But  what  about  the  three  boys,  one  year,  eight 
years  and  sixteen  years  of  age,  who  represent 
the  future?  What  about  them?  Will  they  pay 
less  to  the  support  of  the  ministry  than  their 
fathers?  If  so  the  curve  which  represents  the 
decreased  payments  to  ministerial  support  will 
descend  rapidly  and  the  church  will  bar  its 
doors  against  the  best  of  their  fellows.  These 
boys  will  be  in  the  ranks  of  either  the  laity  or 
the  ministry.  If  they  shall  be  laymen,  and 
when  they  shall  reach  the  age  of  the  four  men 
in  the  picture,  they  too  must  confess  “We  are 
not  better  than  our  fathers”;  then  their  minis¬ 
ters  will  not  be  equal  to  the  task,  the  church  will 
be  swamped  in  the  mire  of  material  prosperity 
and  the  Light  of  the  World  will  be  obscured. 


STATISTICAL  TABLES 


24 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


AMERICAN  MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT 
AND  RELIEF  DIVISION 


General 

MINISTERIAL 


Table  A. — By  Denomi 


Pastoral  Salaries 

Denomination 

Number  of 
Communi¬ 
cants 

Number 

of 

Churches 

Total 

AH 

Salaries 

Aver¬ 

age 

Salary 

Average 
Paid  per 
Com¬ 
muni¬ 
cant 

BAPTIST 

Northern  Baptist  Convention . 

CONGREGATIONAL 

1,283,120 

9,053 

3804,900 

1 

Congregational  Churches . 

770,875 

4,045 

4,938,767 

31,440 

36.63 

2 

DISCIPLES 

Disciples  of  Christ . 

1,217,598 

9,657 

6,194,012  • 

641 

5.08 

3 

EVANGELICAL 

Evangelical  Association . 

106,392 

935 

838,443 

897 

7.88 

4 

Evangelical  Synod  of  America . 

260,213 

993 

950,000 

900 

3.65 

5 

LUTHERAN 

Augustana  Synod . 

195,025 

1,152 

819,950 

712 

4.20 

6 

Synod  of  Missouri . 

590,698 

2,129 

2,046,735 

961 

3.47 

7 

METHODIST 

Free  Methodist  Church  of  N.  A . 

28,830 

934 

472,843 

506 

16.40 

8 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church . 

3,312,130 

14,140 

14,486,578 

1,025 

4.37 

9 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  . 

2,141,716 

6,117 

6,136,445 

1,003 

2.87 

10 

Methodist  Protestant  Church . 

174,302 

1,016 

672,033 

661 

3.86 

11 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Connection  of 

America . 

20,000 

638 

119,794 

201 

5.98 

12 

MORAVIAN 

Moravian  Church . 

16,048 

76 

79,346 

1,044 

4.94 

13 

PRESBYTERIAN 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.A. 

522,462 

5,412 

7,536,975 

1,393 

4.95 

14 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S., 

South . 

363,942 

3,400 

2,176,661 

640 

5.98 

15 

Reformed  Presbyterian  Church . 

2,279 

13 

16,500 

1,269 

7.24 

16 

United  Presbyterian  Church . 

171,706 

1,022 

1,122,532 

1,098 

6.54 

17 

REFORMED 

Reformed  Church  in  America . 

Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S . 

UNITED  BRETHREN 

133,783 

330,000 

727 

1,000,000 

1,500 

884 

7.50 

4.14 

18 

19 

Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in 

Christ . 

342,230 

1,668 

1,432,600 

859 

4.19 

20 

UNITED  EVANGELICAL 

United  Evangelical  Church . 

88,169 

501 

503,614 

1,005 

5.71 

21 

TOTAL  . 

*11,788,388 

*54,575 

*351,543,828 

*3944 

*34.29 

22 

*Because  of  incomplete  data  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention  is  omitted  from  the  total. 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


25 


Statistics 

SALARIES 


lations  for  all  States 


Classification  of  Salaries 


Less 

than 

$500 

$500 

to 

$1,000 

$1,000 

to 

$1,500 

$1,500 

to 

$2,000 

o  o 

o  o 

q,ou, 

C<1 

to,  to. 

$2,500 

to 

$3,000 

$3,000 

to 

$4,000 

$4,000 

to 

$5,000 

$5,000 

and 

Over 

1 

6 

259 

598 

267 

93 

25 

30 

10 

4 

2 

405 

1,120 

1,284 

443 

202 

105 

107 

36 

56 

3 

4 

40 

538 

37 

14 

5 

6 

7 

r ■ 

} 

1,355 

715 

37 

8 

1 

8 

374 

313  ' 

37 

3 

9 

1,932 

4,136 

4,719 

1,739 

776 

374 

179 

48 

15 

10 

958 

2,371 

1,761 

598 

249 

96 

73 

5 

6 

11 

378 

390 

161 

42 

13 

3 

3 

12 

13 

1 

40 

35 

5 

1 

14 

395 

2,563 

1,868 

335 

187 

86 

18 

15 

346 

617 

244 

95 

43 

21 

15 

5 

16 

2 

2 

4 

2 

3 

17 

18 

65 

315 

135 

44 

30 

22 

4 

6 

19 

6 

76 

43 

4 

20 

305 

593 

506 

109 

16 

s 

21 

22 

256 

173 

50 

22 

4,829 

14,423 

12,873 

4,027 

1,687 

768 

453 

118 

92 

26 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


AMERICAN  MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT 
AND  RELIEF  DIVISION 


General  Statistics  of 

MINISTERIAL  SALARIES 


Table  B. — By  States  for  All  Denominations 


Name 

OF 

State 

Number  of 
Commu¬ 
nicants 

Number 

of 

Churches 

Pastc 

Total 

All 

Salaries 

>RAL  SALA 

Average 

Salary 

RIES 

Average 
Paid  Per 
Commu¬ 
nicant 

Alabama . 

Alaska . 

244,664 

906 

3627,627 

3693 

32.57 

Arizona . 

12,485 

105 

94,312 

898 

7.55 

Arkansas . 

152,962 

908 

511,558 

564 

3.34 

California.  . . . 

125,853 

253 

455,529 

1,800 

3.54 

Colorado . 

99,215 

683 

615,694 

901 

6.21 

Connecticut.  . 

118,807 

520 

639,476 

1,230 

5.38 

Delaware . 

25,209 

101 

99,593 

986 

3.95 

Dist.  of 

Columbia.  . . 

22,020 

60 

132,125 

2,202 

6.00 

Florida . 

76,169 

444 

349,266 

987 

4.59 

Georgia . 

279,439 

1,016 

807,327 

795 

2.89 

Idaho . 

37,586 

230 

224,360 

975 

5.92 

Illinois . 

767,780 

3,433 

3,651,551 

1,065 

9.75 

Indiana . 

575,733 

2,316 

2,099,539 

906 

3.64 

Iowa . 

428,414 

2,176 

2,425,306 

1,114 

5.66 

Kansas . 

331,836 

1,877 

1,750,556 

932 

5.27 

Kentucky . 

305,449 

1,740 

976,342 

562 

3.20 

Louisiana . 

67,635 

378 

280,508 

742 

4.15 

Maine . 

44,278 

391 

331,221 

847 

7.48 

Maryland . 

137,768 

579 

587,216 

1,014 

4.26 

Massachusetts 

225,961 

988 

1,248,940 

1,264 

5.53 

Michigan . 

333,998 

1,722 

1,697,857 

986 

5.08 

Minnesota.  . . . 

244,137 

1,377 

1,277,269 

928 

5.23 

Mississippi.  . . . 

153,590 

786 

474,258 

603 

3.08 

Missouri . 

478,256 

2,574 

1,970,156 

765 

4.12 

Montana . 

32,250 

294 

276,069 

939 

8.56 

Nebraska . 

203,368 

1,356 

1,329,356 

980 

6.54 

Nevada . 

1,303 

19 

15,488 

815 

11.12 

New 

Hampshire.  . 

33,618 

278 

252,392 

908 

7.51 

New  Jersey.  . . 

273,728 

999 

1,274,701 

1,276 

4.66 

New  Mexico,  . 

17,414 

169 

127,945 

757 

7.35 

New  York.  . . . 

696,040 

2,819 

3,486,156 

1,236 

5.01 

N.  Carolina..  . 

326,668 

1,398 

944,816 

676 

2.89 

North  Dakota 

44,252 

514 

450,676 

878 

10.18 

Ohio . 

837,281 

2,599 

3,171,396 

1,220 

3.79 

Oklahoma . 

171,954 

1,633 

938,890 

575 

5.47 

Oregon . 

73,950 

586 

465,548 

794 

6.30 

Pennsylvania. 

1,045,358 

3,348 

3,961,920 

1,184 

3.80 

Rhode  Island. 

22,320 

117 

109,275 

934 

4.90 

S.  Carolina.  . . 

146,708 

650 

549,152 

845 

3.74 

South  Dakota. 

58,464 

545 

466,084 

855 

7.97 

Tennessee.  . . . 

288,960 

1,199 

904,781 

755 

3.13 

Texas . 

454,033 

2,370 

1,965,147 

830 

4.33 

Utah . 

60,278 

467 

345,310 

739 

5.73 

Vermont . 

41,486 

326 

263,758 

809 

6.36 

Virginia . 

276,346 

940 

727,455 

774 

2.63 

Washington..  . 

114,805 

897 

825,806 

921 

7.19 

West  Virginia. 

216,161 

1,022 

751,044 

735 

3.47 

Wisconsin . 

208,729 

1,083 

1,041,523 

962 

4.97 

Wyoming . 

8,440 

81 

60,279 

744 

7.09 

TOTAL. . . . 

10,943,158 

51,272 

348,031,648 

3744 

34.38 

Classification  of  Salaries 


Less 

than 

3500 

3500 

to 

31000 

31000 

to 

31500 

31500 

to 

32000 

32000 

to 

32500 

32500 

to 

33000 

33000 

to 

34000 

34000 

to 

35000 

35000 

and 

Over 

49 

16 

3 

1 

14 

9 

5 

3 

18 

13 

6 

1 

. . .  .1 

78 

298 

275 

81 

29 

6 

5 

1 

3 

41 

78 

91 

35 

14 

2 

5 

2 

33 

177 

144 

65 

43 

12 

19 

4 

8 

9 

28 

42 

11 

3 

5 

7 

8 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

25 

25 

15 

6 

3 

2 

1 

30 

8 

4 

1 

26 

47 

27 

13 

2 

2 

167 

553 

615 

217 

96 

41 

25 

6 

11 

131 

455 

246 

105 

28 

17 

3 

2 

1 

81 

261 

524 

203 

63 

23 

15 

2 

153 

313 

344 

100 

23 

12 

2 

1 

1 

35 

52 

13 

3 

2 

2 

11 

21 

14 

1 

116 

152 

108 

31 

5 

2 

3 

1 

20 

104 

78 

50 

24 

10 

9 

2 

99 

248 

290 

147 

67 

42 

37 

9 

6 

76 

452 

321 

79 

25 

11 

11 

1 

3 

83 

259 

249 

63 

23 

15 

7 

2 

3 

1 

4 

1 

82 

293 

167 

37 

14 

4 

4 

7 

2 

33 

83 

51 

17 

10 

3 

1 

67 

320 

368 

68 

14 

7 

5 

2 

1 

7 

6 

2 

1 

49 

127 

95 

13 

10 

6 

1 

2 

61 

170 

151 

91 

62 

4 

3 

2 

3 

17 

13 

7 

4 

2 

20 

12 

3 

191 

514 

635 

180 

116 

55 

49 

14 

12 

33 

24 

7 

1 

47 

107 

98 

32 

7 

2 

1 

133 

410 

720 

180 

82 

40 

24 

6 

8 

71 

121 

87 

21 

7 

4 

2 

59 

82 

65 

23 

8 

8 

1 

1 

92 

400 

525 

315 

152 

101 

17 

5 

3 

12 

15 

27 

14 

3 

3 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

47 

103 

143 

45 

7 

2 

3 

57 

73 

25 

9 

1 

1 

21 

74 

18 

13 

4 

1 

10 

11 

2 

1 

1 

59 

153 

74 

16 

8 

3 

1 

25 

43 

31 

1 

70 

163 

140 

30 

17 

4 

5 

2 

1 

50 

137 

94 

23 

11 

5 

6 

1 

56 

255 

278 

70 

20 

10 

2 

2 

1 

5 

22 

23 

5 

4 

1 

2,653 

7,299 

7,256 

2,433 

1,012 

485 

285 

84 

71 

BUDGET  FOR  MINISTERIAL 
PENSIONS  AND  RELIEF 


28 


MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


AMERICAN  MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT 
AND  RELIEF  DIVISION 

General  Budget 

SUPPORT  OF  RE 

and  Widows  and 


Table  I. — By 


Figures  given  by  some  denominations  include 


Beneficiaries 


Present  Number  of 
Beneficiaries 


Classification  of  Beneficiaries  by  Amounts  Received 


Denomination 

From 

From 

From 

From 

From 

From 

From 

From 

Minis- 

Wid- 

Chil- 

Total 

Under 

2101 

2201 

2301 

2401 

2501 

2601 

2701 

2801 

sters 

ows 

dren 

2100 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

2200 

2300 

2400 

2500 

2600 

2700 

2800 

2900 

BAPTIST: 

Northern  Baptist  Con- 

VENTION . 

261 

227 

102 

590 

Seventh  Day  Baptist.  . . 

3 

3 

CONGREGATIONAL: 

Congregational  Churches 

175 

147 

13 

335 

54 

138 

94 

39 

9 

DISCIPLES: 

Disciples  of  Christ . 

140 

84 

14 

238 

33 

95 

62 

45 

2 

1 

EVANGELICAL: 

Evangelical  Association. 

46 

18 

64 

14 

17 

17 

16 

Evangelical  Synod  of  N.A. 

77 

168 

49 

294 

49 

231 

30 

LUTHERAN: 

United  Lutheran  Church 

in  America . 

45 

96 

3 

144 

72 

69 

Augustana  Synod . 

48 

95 

1 

144 

10 

119 

METHODIST: 

Methodist  Episcopal 

Church . 

3,154 

3,601 

563 

7,318 

1,827 

1,923 

1,650 

813 

379 

96 

35 

8 

5 

Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  South . 

1,000 

1,074 

2,074 

2,074 

Methodist  Protestant 

Church . 

11 

15 

26 

13 

3 

7 

2 

1 

Free  Methodist  Church 

of  N.  A . 

MORAVIAN: 

Moravian  Church . 

18 

25 

40 

83 

42 

26 

15 

PRESBYTERIAN: 

Presbyterian  Church  in 

the  U.  S.  A . 

736 

976 

70 

1,782 

32 

819 

564 

356 

21 

Presbyterian  Church  in 

* 

the  U.  S.,  South . 

107 

160 

27 

294 

53 

120 

65 

36 

13 

6 

1 

United  Presbyterian 

'  Church . 

30 

91 

3 

124 

1 

20 

63 

40 

REFORMED: 

Reformed  Church  in 

America . 

23 

67 

90 

Reformed  Church  in  the 

U.  S . 

29 

41 

70 

5 

49 

10 

3 

1 

UNITED  BRETHREN: 

Church  of  the  United 

Brethren  in  Christ . 

252 

38 

290 

TOTAL . 

5,908 

7,137 

923 

13,963 

4,152 

3,658 

2,653 

1,370 

427 

103 

37 

8 

5 

MINISTERIAL  SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


29 


Statement 

TIRED  MINISTERS 

Orphans  of  Ministers 


Denominations 


amounts  for  support  of  retired  missionaries 


Financial  Program 

Additional  Endowment  Needed 

Denomination 

Total  Income 

Additional 

Income 

Needed 

Endowment 

Present  Non- 

Net 

Additional 

Needed  to 
Pay  1920 

Present 

Income 

Necessary  to 
Produce 

Productive 

Endowment 

Claims 

Additional 

Which  Will 

Endowment 

Income 

Become 

Needed 

Needed 

Productive 

BAPTIST: 

Nocthfbn  Rapttst  Convention . 

3163,933 

600 

310,000,000 

50,000 

310,000,000 

50,000 

Sfvfnth  Day  Rapttst.  .  . 

CONGREGATIONAL: 

Congregational  Churches . 

3242,000 

142,000 

3100,000 

8,000,000 

36,000,000 

2,000,000 

DISCIPLES: 

Disr.TPT.FS  of  Christ . 

48,980 

5,140,000 

5,140,000 

EVANGELICAL: 

Evangelical  Association . 

23,050 

37,600 

315,000 

1,000,000 

315,000 

1,000,000 

F.vangfi.ical  Synod  of  N.  A  . 

85,000 

47,400 

LUTHERAN: 

United  Lutheran  Church  in 
America . 

90,000 

100,000 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

Augustana  Synod . 

14,814 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

METHODIST: 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church . 

2,503,462 

1,397,616 

38,947 

7,150 

19,516 

1,105,846 

22,200,000 

9,500,000 

7,200,000 

15,000,000 

9,500,000 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  So... 

Methodist  Protestant  Church . 

Free  Methodist  Church  of  N.  A. . 

390,326 

390,326 

MORAVIAN: 

Moravian  Church . 

43,000 

18,000 

25,000 

500,000 

500,000 

PRESBYTERIAN: 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U,S.A. . 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S. 

1,469,645 

10,000,000 

430,000 

650,000 

10,000,000 

430,000 

650,000 

67,448 

20,150 

United  Presbyterian  Church . 

52,055 

31,905 

REFORMED: 

Reformed  Church  in  America . 

35,000 

24,355 

1,000,000 

1,200,000 

1,000,000 

1,200,000 

Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S... 

UNITED  BRETHREN: 

Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in 

Christ . 

101,345 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

TOTAL . 

34,385,162 

32,260,504 

31,742,151 

373,375,000 

313,200,000 

360,175,326 

- 


■ 


- 


* 


INTERCHORCH  WORLD  MOVEMENT  OF  NORTH  AMERICA 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SURVEY  DEPARTMENT 


DIVISIONS  BRANCHES  SECTIONS 

— Africa 
— China 
—  India 

— Japanese  Empire 
—  Malaysia,  Siam 
'  — Indo-China,  Oceania 
— Philippine  Islands 
— Latin  America 
— Europe 
—  Near  East 


— Evangelistic 
— Educational 
— Medical 

— Social  and  Industrial 
— Literature 
.  — Field  Occupancy 
— Field  Conditions 
— Graphics 
— Statistics 
—  Editorial 

—Research  and  Library 


Coordination 


FOREIGN 


Mission  Agencies 


Fields 


SURVEY 

DEPARTMENT 


AMERICAN 

EDUCATION 


t~  Fields 


—  Tax-Supported  Institutions 


—  Local  Church 


AMERICAN 
Religious  Education 


-  Community 


AMERICAN 
Hospitals  and  Homes 


AMERICAN  MINISTERIAL 
SUPPORT  AND  RELIEF 


-c 


Agencies 


-  Coordination 


Organization  Relations 


_  Denominational  and 

Independent  Institutions 


Theological  Seminaries 


—  Secondary  Schools 


Coordination 


Home 


Special  Groups 


—  Special  Fields 


Field  Organization 


Denominational  and  • 

Interdenominational  Agencies 


Research  and  Instruction 


Coordination 


Ministerial  Support 


Pensions  and  Relief 


—  Cities 

—  New  York  Metropolitan 
— Town  and  Country 

— Vvest  Indies 
— Alaska 
— Hawaii 

—  Migrant  Groups 

—Cities 

— New  York  Metropolitan 
— Town  and  Country 
— Negro  Americans 
— New  Americans 
— Spanish-speaking  Peoples 
— Orientals  in  the  U.  S. 

— American  Indian 
— Migrant  Group* 

-Research  and  Library 
-Lantern  Slide* 

-Graphic* 

-Publicity 

-Statistica 

-Industrial  Relation* 

-College* 

-Universities 


—State  Univeraitiet 
_  — Municipal  Universities 
“  — State  Agricultural  Collage* 
— State  Normal  School* 

E Theologies!  Seminaries 
College  Biblical  Departments 
Religious  Training  School* 


E Comity  and  Cooperation 
Field 

Standard*  and  Norm* 


r— Architecture 
-1 — Curriculum 


> — Teachera 


r— Muaic 
-I — Pageantry 

L“-Non-ehurch  Organization* 


E Editorial 

Statistics  and  Tabulation 
Schedules 


